Magnolia grandiflora named `Green Giant`

ABSTRACT

A new southern magnolia for the grandiflora variety distinguished by its rapid dense growth and large glossy leaves which are green on both sides and exhibit minimal pubescence, as well as the coarse, textured, broad, blunt, flame shape tree and dense foliage with a strong, dominant central leader.

BACKGROUND OF THE NEW PLANT

My new variety of Magnolia grandiflora was discovered and first observedin a bed of Magnolia grandiflora (southern magnolia) seedlings at theWestervelt Tree Company in Selma, Ala. These seedlings were among agroup of one gallon seedlings previously obtained from the PowellNursery, Thomasville, Ga., and planted at Westervelt Tree Co. in 1984.The parent trees and the source of the seed are unknown.

This new variety was initially reproduced in 1986 at the Westervelt TreeCompany in Selma, Ala. Subsequently, a considerable number of selectedcuttings were rooted and grown to test the stability, uniformity andgrowth rate of the clonal material. Since 1986, this new plant has beenpropagated by rooted cuttings of the current season's growth throughseveral generations, and we have been able to thereby determine that thenovel and distinctive features of the new cultivar, Magnolia grandiflora"Green Giant", plant have remained true from generation to generationand appear to have been firmly fixed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Our new Magnolia grandiflora, and certain features thereof, areillustrated by the accompanying color drawings (photographs).

FIG. 1 is a photograph showing a tree that is about 6 years old andabout 10 to 12 feet tall.

FIG. 2 shows the front and rear sides of a mature one year old leaf withthe front side being the upper leaf while the rear side is shown in thebottom leaf.

It will be noted that the colors on both the front and rear sides aregreen.

DESCRIPTION OF THE NEW PLANT

The following is a detailed description of our new Magnolia grandiflorabased upon observations of a tree growing in the Westervelt Tree Companynursery for the past 7 years. The observations have been made over aperiod of time since 1987 at Selma, Ala. and at another test nursery inLexington, Ky. The color designations being used throughout thisspecification are based on the Munsell Color System derived fromelectronic evaluation using a Minolta Spectrophotometer CM 2002.

Origin: Seedling.

Parentage: Unknown. The originally observed seedling originate din a bedof seedlings Magnolia grandiflora. The original seeds for this bedresulted from the open pollination of a number of southern magnolias.

Classification:

Botanic.--Magnolia grandiflora.

Commercial.--Southern Magnolia.

Form: Tall evergreen tree of pyramidal habit with a straight and strongcentral trunk. Blunt, broad, flame shape.

Height: In a period of six to seven years, rooted cuttings of the newplan have reached an average height of 10 to 12 feet with a trunk sizeof 3 to 4 inches. The growth rate is normally about 2 to 4 feet peryear.

The plant maintains a dense habit and exhibits very abundant branchdevelopment. The foliage is dense, coarse textured, and exhibits littleno pubescence. The branch structure is also defined as a coarse, densebranch structure. The current season's bark is smooth and green incolor. Mature bark has a slight texture and is brown to reddish-brown incolor.

Cold tolerance: The tree has survived 8° F. in February 1995 with noapparent damage.

Branching: The branching is coarse with numerous, closely spacedbranches diverging at an angle of approximately 45 degrees from thecentral trunk. The upswept branches create a columnar or pyramidal formwith a dense, compact crown. The shape and growth habit described arebased upon specimens not subjected to pruning or other culturalpractices that might otherwise influence the shape or growth habit ofthe trees. Further, the trees used for asexual propagation stock wereisolated for observation purposes.

Foliage: The leaves are glossy green on top and light green on bottom.Bottoms of leaves are most glabrous with some ferrugineous pubescence.Leaves are an oblong or elliptical shape and slightly undulate surface.Bases are rounded, margins entire and apices acuminate. The size ofmature leaves ranges from 7 to 9 inches long to 3 to 4.5 inches wide.The undersides of the leaves exhibit little pubescence, as shown in thephotographs, unlike other varieties of Magnolia grandiflora which arecharacterized by a great abundance of pubescence and a brown leaf color.Petioles are 1/2 to 1 inch long.

Color: According to the Munsell Color System, upper leaf surfaces have ahue ranging from 6.1gy to 6.6gy, value of 3.2 and chroma of 2.3. Theback surfaces have a hue of 2.6gy to 7.0gy, value of 4.2 to 4.5 and achroma of 3.2. Trunk color has an average hue of 6.8gy, value of 4.2 andchroma 3.7.

Stems: Young stems, between one and two years old, are stout, strong andare approximately 1/4 to 1/2 inches in diameter with pubescence newgrowth and dark green older stems. A distinctive circular scale scar ispresent at each node.

Buds: The parent plant of this new plant has yet to produce flowers andonly one flower bud has appeared, notwithstanding the numerousprovocations. Terminal buds are about 1 inch long, curved at the apex,and are covered in a single pubescent scale. Lateral buds are smallerbut prominent 1/4 inch ovoid shaped buds.

Flowers: The new plant is characterized by a lack of flowers. The tree'slow propensity to flower is believed to have a genetic basis. This treevariety has been compared to other Magnolia grandiflora seedlings andcultivars of comparable age, grown under identical environmentalconditions and with identical cultural practices. A marked difference inthe propensity to flower has been observed when making this comparisonin that the Green Giant Southern Magnolia has exhibited little to noflowering, while at the same time showing a remarkable rate of growth.It is recognized that this vigorous growth may be in lieu of flowerproduction. However, the above mentioned comparison indicates that thistree's lack of flowering may well have a genetic base since the othertrees, under the same growing conditions, showed flowering consistentwith the species. It is possible that more flowering may be observedwhen planted in a less growth oriented environment.

In general, the outstanding characteristics of our new variety ofMagnolia grandiflora, which distinguish it from other varieties ofsouthern magnolia and all other types of magnolias, resides in its densegrowth with large glossy leaves which are green on both sides andexhibit minimal pubescence, as well as the coarse textured, broad,blunt, flame shaped tree and dense foliage. It has a strong, dominantcentral leader which is a beneficial trait for commercial production.

Our new Magnolia grandiflora is easy to root from cuttings collected inJuly and early August which also provides commercial appeal and assurestrueness-to-type. The rapid growth rate under normal fertilizer andmoisture conditions, together with its very abundant branch development,assures that the plant will always maintain a very dense habit.

I claim:
 1. The new and distinct cultivar of Magnolia grandiflora,substantially as herein shown and described, characterized by a coarsetextured, broad, blunt, flame shape and by a pyramidal growth habit witha fairly coarse branch structure, and its dense foliage of coarsetextured, green backed leaves exhibiting little pubescence and byexhibiting little to no flowering.